Creighton University Athletics
Creighton University
Wichita State
Shockers Gain Revenge, Top CU Volleyball In Four Sets
10/31/2009 4:00:00 PM | Volleyball
WICHITA, Kan. -- The Creighton Volleyball team won the first set, but could not sustain that performance while falling in four sets at defending league champion Wichita State on Saturday night. Scores of the match in favor of WSU were 23-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-11.
Wichita State won for the 11th time in as many home matches this season to improve to 18-4 overall and 9-3 in the MVC. Creighton dropped to 9-14 overall and is 6-7 in league action. Creighton had won the first meeting of the season in Omaha in four sets, the Jays only win against a ranked opponent in 36 tries all-time.
"This weekend really epitomizes our season to some degree," said CU head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "I walk away saying we did some really good things this weekend, look how good we can play, and then I think we played some of our worst volleyball of the season at different points tonight too. We've got to figure out how to consistently play the ball that we're capable of playing."
Creighton won a closely contested opening set that featured 13 ties and eight lead changes. Nayka Benitez would serve a 6-0 run that gave the Jays a 17-13 lead. Creighton would still own a four-point lead when ahead 20-16, only to see WSU rally for four straight to tie the score. CU would take the lead for good at 22-21 on an Allie Oelke kill and go ahead 23-21 when WSU standout Emily Stockman had an attack error. The teams would trade four sideouts from there, with CU taking the 25-23 decision on a kill by Laurel Sanford.
Wichita State dominated the second set, hitting .389 and putting up six blocks while holding the Jays to -.034 hitting and a mere six digs. An early 6-0 run gave WSU a 7-3 lead and the Shockers were never challenged from there. The lead reached double-figures at 19-9 and Katie Niggemeyer closed out the set with her fifth kill of the match to split the Bluejay defense.
Wichita State led from virtually wire-to-wire in the third set while taking a 25-22 victory, going ahead in the match 2-1. Creighton stayed close until WSU would build a 19-16 lead. The Jays would do draw within one at 23-22, prompting a Shocker timeout, before kills from Stockman and Kim Wadsworth ended the set.
The Jays were no match for WSU in the fourth and final set, falling behind by scores of 5-0, 12-1 and 19-5, en route to a 25-11 victory.
Jessica Houts led CU with 15 kills, but also had 11 attack errors in her 29 swings. Also in double-figures was Alicia Runge, who had 11 kills and 10 errors in 48 attacks. Nayka Benitez led the CU defense with 17 digs. Creighton finished with 45 kills, two aces, six blocks and 60 digs while hitting just .058.
The reigning MVC Player of the Year, Stockman had 16 kills and 16 digs and hit .341. Niggemeyer had 12 kills and hit a robust .458 on the evening, while setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper had 40 assists, 13 digs and eight blocks in the near triple-double. Wichita State had 50 kills, one ace, 66 digs and 15 blocks while hitting .278.
Creighton will be home three of the next four weekends, starting with a match next Saturday when it hosts Drake. That contest will begin at 7 pm at the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center, and can be heard on KOIL (1180 AM).
NOTES: The winner of the first set had won the last 11 meetings between WSU and CU and 15 of the past 16 contests prior to tonight ...Wichita State has now won 17 straight third sets against the Bluejays ...Creighton had been 9-1 this season when winning the first set, and 97-13 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth overall, before tonight.
